Bee Team

Team Bumblebee, also known as the Bee Team, is a group of Autobots led by Bumblebee, and was formed by Bumblebee after he had a vision of Optimus Prime, who told him to go to Earth as a new threat appears.

Contents

History

Robots in Disguise

In Bumblebee's own words, the members of the Bee Team "found each other"-initially Bumblebee believed that Optimus' mission was intended for him alone. However, in Pilot (Part 1), his journey to Earth was unexpectedly joined by Elite Guard cadet Strongarm and Sideswipe, a small-time criminal that the pair had pursued on Cybertron. Sideswipe took off only to run into Russell Clay, and the group then found the Mini-Con Fixit, caretaker of the crashed prison ship Alchemor, who informed them that it's entire complement of Decepticon prisoners-some 200 or so-had escaped. The one exception was the Dinobot Grimlock, who then escaped when his stasis pod was broken by the Chompazoid Underbite. The Autobots' engagement with him led them to Denny Clay's Scrapyard in Pilot (Part 2). The unlikely team eventually managed to defeat Underbite with unexpected help from Optimus, who charged the team with continuing their mission before departing. After relocating the Alchemor's wreckage to the Scrapyard, Bumblebee allowed Grimlock to join the team on a probationary status.

Trust Exercises showed that Bumblebee's team took time to get used to each other, with the by-the-book Strongarm clashing with the loner Sideswipe while Grimlock proved a little too eager to clash with Decepticons, often rushing into action with no semblance of a plan. However, after splitting the larger members of the team into groups, they managed to capture the Decepticon Hammerstrike and survive an encounter with Steeljaw, a Decepticon out to make Earth into a new homeworld for his kind. In More than Meets the Eye they would contend with the Decepticon Combiner Chop Shop, capturing all but one of his components. W.W.O.D.? saw Bumblebee struggling to fill his role as a leader, and attempting to emulate Optimus' command style. However, his efforts to imitate the Autobot leader had little effect, and it was only when he realized that he had to lead the team in his own way that they were able to apprehend Terrashock.

Sideswipe's disregard for protocol and tendency not to take things seriously continued to prove a problem in As the Kospego Commands! After his antics nearly damaged Fixit and resulted in Grimlock being ambushed by Thunderhoof, Bumblebee expressed a lack of confidence in him. However, Sidesipe later proved himself a loyal member of the team, taking down Thunderhoof and helping to stop his Space Bridge before it destroyed the planet. In Collect 'Em All, the Bee Team were forced to contend with Corvicon Filch, while Strongarm struggled to adjust to being on Earth and adapting to a new set of rules. In True Colors the group were forced to deal with the possibility that Grimlock had betrayed them, but eventually discovered that he was being controlled by Minitron, a minion of Steeljaw's. Minitron succeeded in stealing Underbite's stasis pod from the Scrapyard but was then recaptured by Grimlock, who was made a full member of the team as a result.

Rumble in the Jungle saw Strongarm go on a "solo mission" only to find herself accompanied by a concerned Bumblebee, while the remainder of the team had to deal with the rivalry between Denny and Fixit. Despite some difficulties, however, the pair of officers managed to apprehend Springload, while Denny and Fixit got the Decepticon Hunter recovered from the Alchemor working. The team was briefly joined by an unexpected ally, Bumblebee's old friend Jazz, in Can You Dig It?, where he helped them to apprehend Ped while revealing that the Autobot High Council was upset by Bumblebee's departure from Cybertron. The team would then deal with an out-of-control Bumblebee after he was stung by Quillfire, but managed to apprehend him and get their commander back to his senses. Jazz's warning would prove true in Hunting Season, when rival bounty hunters Fracture and Drift arrived on Earth in search of Bumblebee. Fortunately, Drift was soon convinced of Bumblebee's noble intentions, and the team managed to defeat Fracture and gain the use of his Ground Bridge despite his ship being destroyed. Drift and his Mini-Cons Slipstream and Jetstorm subsequently departed.

Bumblebee would continue to deal with his team difficulties in Out of Focus, where they were forced to deal with the Skunkticons led by Malodor. Fortunately, Bumblebee was able to keep a cool head, and managed to rally his team and lead them to victory. Their next challenge would occur in Sideways, during which they were forced to deal with a new Decepticon named Clampdown, who became a member of Steeljaw's Pack along with Thunderhoof, Underbite, and Fracture under Steeljaw's leadership. The Autobots managed to capture the Pack briefly, but Steeljaw escaped and affected that of his underlings by forcing the team to act to save a human ship. In Even Robots Have Nightmares, the Autobots were taught anew the value of their human allies when Russell and Denny helped them to escape from Nightstrike. They would then deal with the Decpeticon Vertebreak, who stole Sideways' body and forced the cocky young Autobot to find a different way to contribute.

In One of Our Mini-Cons Is Missing, Drift returned to Earth in search of a runaway Jetstorm, and the two of them and Slipstream joined the Bee Team permanently after helping apprehend the escaped Quillfir and Springload. The group would then be forced to confront Octopunch, an aquatic Decepticon, during which time Bumblebee had to deal with inadvertently giving Grimlock the impression that he couldn't express weakness because the team needed him, even when he was injured. After helping Grimlock realize the importance of taking care of himself, they would find themselves unexpectedly relying on him in bringing in the former gladiator Groundpounder in The Champ. It would then be Fixit's turn to worry the team as he was revealed to have security programming that turned him into a virtually unstoppable force out to capture his teammates, whom he believed to be escaped inmates, and eliminate Chop Shop until the team managed to stop him. The group would then engage Steeljaw's Pack again in Lockout, in which Steeljaw managed to lock them out of the Scrapyard but was defeated thanks to the Clays.

Attempting to emulate what Bumblee and the others had done with him, Grimlock was lenient with the Decepticon Dinobot Scowl, but helped bring him down when he proved unrepentant in Similarly Different. The team would then meet an unexpected new ally in The Buzz on Windblade when they met Windblade, a female Autobot sent to Earth by Primus. Working together, they managed to thwart the Decepticon Zizza, and Winblade departed to continue hunting other Decepticons. In Ghosts and Impostors, Bumblebee took his teammates to visit a ghost town, where they were forced to contend with the Shifter Pseudo.

In Battlegrounds, Part 1, it became evident that the threat Optimus had been warning Bumblebee of for some time would soon arrive, and the Bee Team soon had to contend with the capture of Sideswipe, Strongarm, and Windblade by Steeljaw's Pack. While attempting to free them, Bumblebee and his team were unexpectedly joined by Optimus Prime, who tried to shut down a Space Bridge built by the villains. He failed, and the long-awaited threat showed it's face: that of Megatronus. Battlegrounds, Part 2 saw the Bee Team and Optimus continue their battle with the Pack and Megatronus, who was out to destroy Earth by mingling the AllSpark with the remains of the Anti-Spark at Earth's core. Fortunately, Optimus destroyed Megatronus' Spark Fuser, and the Bee Team were able to use their Decepticon Hunters to defeat Megatronus, though whether or not he perished was left unclear. The members of the team soon agreed to remain on Earth to continue dealing with the threat of the remaining escaped Decepticons, including Steeljaw who had escaped the capture of his pack. Optimus also agreed to join with the team, but as Bumblebee's equal rather than his commander.

Books

Robots in Disguise Animated

The Bee Team at one point found themselves unexpectedly working alongside some of the members of Bumblebee's previous force, Team Prime, to deal with a crime syndicate known as the Cybercomrade Sect.